


Singer for a Day

by lucidscreamer



Series: Sky and Sea [6]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Career Change, Drabble, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Merman Joey, Merman Yami, NOT The Little Mermaid, Prose Poem, Sirens, Yugi is only mentioned, merfolk culture, shadowing someone at work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 20:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16751056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucidscreamer/pseuds/lucidscreamer
Summary: When Yami first hears the term "Singer," he pictures choirs of merfolk, performing in temples (or breaking into spontaneous song a la certain Disney movies). Briefly, he wonders if merfolk have rock stars.





	Singer for a Day

Dishwater-blond hair, heavy with tokens that Yami's still learning to read ('guardian,' 'brother'?), falls over Joey's eyes as he tilts his head to examine something on the sea-bed.

Joey's another of Yugi's friends, a Singer. Today, Yami's shadowing him to see if this occupation suits him. He needs to find his vocation, his place within the Charm.

Many of his previously cultivated skills don't translate well to living underwater. His unique gift (Yugi says "from Nirzi")... Well, Yami'll think on _that_ later. For now, he focuses on Joey's lesson.

Yami's unsure 'Singer' fits him, but perhaps he'll make a friend.

　

o0o

When Yami first hears the term "Singer," he pictures choirs of merfolk, performing in temples (or breaking into spontaneous song _a la_ certain Disney movies). Briefly, he wonders if merfolk have rock stars.

Then Yugi explains: Singers are warriors. Their voices are weapons, honed and deadly as any blade. Singers call the storms. They lure enemies from the world of air to drown in the depths. They sing the Red Songs, the fever-pitch rhythms of adrenaline and pounding hearts, of drifting blood and circling sharks.

In peaceful times, Singers guard, protect; their patron is Aheni Who Sings, Who Sets Apart, Who Sunders. Like their patron, they guard the borders of the Charm's territory, the gates of the grotto where they are at their most vulnerable, venture into open seas or even up rivers with traders and diplomats. And it is the Singer who, when merfolk are laid to rest, chases away Phitrion's monstrous sharks.

　

 

**Author's Note:**

> Phitrion is one of the gods of the dead in this universe. His realm is guarded by huge, ghostly sharks.


End file.
